When my police department bought Taser X26 devices for issue, our chief ordered that all officers, both full- and part-time, be certified in their use. Cops must be qualified or certified in every weapon they’re issued, whether lethal or less-lethal. For less-lethal, certification includes a class on employing the less-lethal weapon and being exposed to it so the officer knows the effect of the weapon. I soon found myself in a class that was administered by a certified Taser instructor. We learned how the Taser device works and how to employ it. Then, we all had the opportunity to see what it was like to “take a ride.”

My 3 seconds “riding the lightning” seemed to last for hours! All I can remember was thinking, “When is this s——t going to end!?!” The positive is that when it’s over, there are typically no after effects other than a bad memory. I have been tear gassed, pepper sprayed, had broken bones, sutures without anesthesia and I would undergo any of those before I’d be hit with a Taser device again. There is nothing in this world so excruciating as being hit with a Taser device. The Taser device is the most effective ECD (Electronic Control Device) and it works by NMI (neuro muscular incapacitation) rather than pain compliance alone. It causes signals to be sent to sensory and motor nerves. The net result is that the Taser recipient falls on the ground in a mass of shivering spasms unless someone catches the recipient, as was the case during our training.

Taser devices send electrical stimuli to sensory and motor nerves causing muscle contraction, which is why even individuals with high pain tolerance or those under the influence of drugs are stopped in their tracks by a Taser device.